“You may have to buy even water”, a common
warning given to us during the nineties when I was school kid and now within
two decades the situation had got worse. Now I may have to tell
my daughter that her generation may not get water in future even if they are
ready to buy, if water conservation is not done at present. But is the issue as
serious as portrayed? Yes, the water crisis in Cape Town, the legislative
capital of South Africa is a recent example.

So What Happened in Cape Town?

Cape Town
was running short of water and date for day zero was announced by the Municipal
Corporation. Technically speaking if storage in reservoirs is below 13.5% then
it is considered to Day Zero. So the implication was that showers are not allowed
for more than 90 seconds, 50L of ration water as daily allowance to residents
and much more restrictions.

To many of us, it was just a news. After all it
didn’t happen in India, right? Cape Town is just a predecessor and there are
many cities including Bengaluru are in the verge of the acute water crisis leading to day zero,
according to a report in Down to Earth.

Source: Down To Earth

LivPure #CuttingPanni Initiative

In the
midst of the global water crisis, LivPure has come out with an interesting
initiative based on the Cutting Chai culture of Mumbai. In short, it’s an
attempt to conserve water by starting to use half a cup of water. The below video is one of the interesting videos which was relased as part of the Live Pure #CuttingPanni initiative. There is always a half-leftover glass of water after every meeting. Why not just take half of glass of water, instead of wasting the other half?

Kerala Experience

I
visited Mattanur in Kannur district; Kerala a couple of years back and the
awareness among children’s in conserving water is something which shook me
awestruck. My spouse house is surrounded by paddy field and Rubber plantations
with water running from the mountain in a narrow canal throughout the year.
Water in well is near the ground and there is absolutely no water shortage or
crisis any time in the past.On a fine
morning a girl related to my spouse and who is less than 10 years of age
was using the tap in front of the house to wash her face and brush her teeth.
She just throttled the knob a little instead of flushing the water from the tap which was at high pressure. My experience here in city kitchens was different as we continue to keep water to flush at high pressure while washing utensils. Her
father who was standing near the paddy field called her to bring something and
she moved instantly by closing the tap. As she moved suddenly, she didn’t close
it fully and drops of water was leaking. Her father who noticed it asked her
to stop running towards him and told her to turn back and close the tap fully
without wasting water. She in turn came back and closed it fully. It all
happened in minutes and both of them continued to do their work. But the
incident is still fresh in my mind and incident was shared with all my friends many
time in the last few years. Is this the reason why Kerala is green and people
are aware of the basic necessities of life instead of getting consumed into
materialistic life? May be or maybe not, but such habitual changes is the need
of the hour to conserve water. Children’s should be taught to conserve water
and it should become a habit.